Everyone’s Problem

People frequently discuss the moral imperative of providing health care—and it is. However, just as important is the financial side of the equation. Last Friday this article appeared in the NY Times about GM’s difficulties in providing health care to its union members. The most important thing to take away from it is not a he-said she-said who is the bad guy, but instead to realize that this issue is critical for everyone involved. The only way we will be able to get a healthy system will be through fundamental reform, and that is never easy. However, we will be in a perpetual health care crisis until underlying structural problems are fixed. The only way to fix those problems is to provide a mandate to lawmakers to do it, and a tool for ensuring that health care remains a central issue until it is fixed. That means a constitutional amendment.